Detachable belt loop

ABSTRACT

A detachable belt loop is provided including an upper connector portion and a lower connector portion. Between said upper and lower portion is a spanning portion. The upper connector portion and lower connector portions each includes one or more connectors adapted to releaseably attach to a user&#39;s clothing.

BACKGROUND 1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates in general to a device forming a belt loop for securing a belt to an article of clothing. The device can be used regardless of whether the clothing has existing belt loops or other means to secure the belt to the clothing, or alternatively where the article of clothing has no such existing mechanism to secure a belt to the clothing. The device is removable such that a wearer can use one or more of the devices interchangeably on separate pieces of clothing.

2. Description of Related Art

The belt has been around for a century or more. Over this time the belt has maintained its functional purpose of preventing a wearer's pants from falling below the waistline. However, the belt has also taken on an additional role as a fashion accessory, where often times a belt may be worn for its aesthetic value notwithstanding whether it is contemporaneously serving a functional purpose. For instance, a belt may be worn as a fashion accessory over a long shirt or sweater, including one without belt loops, such that the belt does not serve to keep the wearer's pants (or shirt/sweater) from falling down. The belt, instead, merely provides a visually appealing dividing line to the garment, which can also give the appearance that the garment is more tapered to the person's waistline.

Often times a clothing garment, such as a pair of pants, has an insufficient number of belt loops. Excess spacing between belt loops is created. This excess spacing can result in the belt separating from the waistline of the pants, for example, creating a vertical separation where the belt rises above the pant waistline and/or the pant waistline protrudes away from the wearer's body beyond the belt. Besides merely having an insufficient number of belt loops, many garments are sold with no belt loops at all. This class of clothing includes pants, but more commonly includes long shirts, sweaters, or dresses where a user may wish to add a belt for reasons set forth above, or for additional reasons understood by persons of skill in the art.

There are, of course, existing mechanisms to attach one or more belt loops to a clothing garment. For example, it is known to sew a belt loop to a clothing garment. However, sewing a belt loop to a garment takes requisite skills, equipment, and knowledge of sewing. Also, sewing a belt loop to clothing is permanent, at least to the extent that the user does not choose to rip the loop off of the clothing, causing potential damage to the garment, or cut the loop from the clothing, also risking damage to the clothing. This known solution of affixing a permanent loop to a garment also does not allow the wearer the variety afforded by a less permanent solution. For instance, a wearer may not always wish to wear a garment of clothing with the belt loops attached. Or, the wearer may wish to wear a different style of belt loop for a particular occasion, such as a more traditional belt loop during work hours followed by a more fashionable belt loop (e.g., textured or multi-colored) after work.

Prior art disclosing removable belt loops exists that purports to address certain, but not all, of the above mentioned issues—at the very least not in the novel manner those issues are addressed by the present invention. None of these prior art documents disclose the present invention. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,873,151 to Sood (“'151 Patent” or “Sood”) discloses a rigid metallic or plastic rectangular belt loop pin for attachment to clothing. This purported solution differs from the present invention at least because a rigid metallic or plastic rectangle secured to a clothing garment does not provide the natural flexibility and comfort one expects from a belt loop, when compared to the disclosed belt box. Further, the belt loop pin disclosed in Sood was not designed to resemble the appearance of traditional existing belt loops and would thereby not provide a consistent, aesthetically pleasant appearance. The '151 Patent also discloses the use of a single large pin attached to the rigid rectangular member for attachment to a user's clothing. Such a singular vertical pin as that disclosed in the '151 Patent is ill-suited for the functional purposes of the present invention. For instance, the vertically-oriented pressure exerted upwards or downwards by a removable belt loop using a single vertical pin for attachment would likely result in undue strain on a clothing garment, leading to wear or even holes in the garment. This is a concern particularly if the garment was constructed of a less durable material (such as cotton, silk, or similar) commonly used for shirts or sweaters.

Further, U.S. Pat. No. 5,920,964 (“'964 Patent) to Malzahn discloses a flexible, removable belt loop for decoration that is meant to couple the portion of a belt that extends beyond a belt buckle to the belt portion attached to the buckle. The '964 Patent does not disclose additional belt loops for attachment to a clothing garment, the '964 Patent's loop does is not attached to a garment at all, it instead wraps around the belt and attaches to itself, via Velcro, snaps or other means. The '964 Patent's belt loop therefore does not address the problem of a clothing garment having a shortage of belt loops causing a belt to shift out of position in relation to the clothing. Further, the '964 Patent's belt loop cannot provide belt loops for a garment with no belt loops at all.

Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 1,299,680 (“'680 Patent”) to Chaney discloses detachable belt loops for attachment on the inside of a pair of pants. The '680 Patent discloses only a hanging loop with a single attachment point atop the structure. If applied to the outside of a pair of pants—or worse a shirt, dress, or sweater—this single attachment point once engaged by a belt with any significant weight, would exert an undue downward and outward force against the clothing garment. This force would cause wear or holes in the garment and also likely create the undesirable physical appearance of a pulling on the garment (such as a shirt, sweater, or dress) at the attachment points or even a folding over of the beltline of a pair of pants.

For at least the above reasons, the present invention is distinguishable from these known prior art attempts and, instead, effectively addresses problems not solved by any known prior art removable belt loop.

Accordingly, it is the object of the invention to provide a removable belt loop to overcome the still-existing problems set forth above, which also does not embody the shortcomings present in prior art removable belt loops.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

A removable belt loop is provided for temporary attachment to a clothing article. The clothing article may or may not have existing belt loops. For instance, the present invention could be used with a pair of pants having existing, but an insufficient number of, belt loops present. Alternatively, the present invention could be used with a pair of pants, or other clothing garment (e.g., a dress or sweater) that lacks belt loops entirely. One or more belt loops in accordance with the present invention may be removeably attached to a clothing garment by use of one or more connectors present on the removable belt loop itself. The connectors, according to a preferred embodiment, are located on a connector portion at the top and bottom of the removable belt loop and can be securely attached to a clothing garment.

Between said connector portions of the belt loop is a spanning portion connecting said connector portions. This portion will form the majority of the loop that serves to keep a belt in place. According to one embodiment, this spanning portion is made of a cloth material, such as denim, and would resemble the material used for conventional belt loops found on a pair of pants. In another embodiment, the spanning portion could be made up of a metal material resembling a chain connecting the connector portions. Further, the spanning portion may contain various designs permitting the user to accessorize his or her outfit for particular occasions.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent when reference is made to the following description, taken in conjunction with the figures found herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The detailed description corresponding to embodiments of the present invention will be made with respect to the included figures:

FIG. 1 is a depiction of an embodiment of the removable belt loop of the present invention removably attached to an exemplary clothing garment.

FIG. 2 is a top view of an embodiment of the removable belt loop of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view of an embodiment of the removable belt loop of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view of an embodiment of the removable belt loop of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of an embodiment of the removable belt loop that would not be visible by an onlooker observing the belt loop once it was attached to a clothing garment.

FIG. 6 is a front view of an embodiment of the removable belt loop of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a side view of an embodiment of the removable belt loop of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

One or more embodiments of the present invention is hereafter described in detail with reference to one or more of the figures contained herein.

FIG. 1 depicts an embodiment of the removable belt loop 100 of the present invention removeably attached to an exemplary clothing garment. Referring to FIG. 1, a portion of a clothing article (e.g., a pair of pants) 101 is shown where previously no belt loop was present. The garment could be, for example, a pair of pants with a shortage of existing, permanent belt loops, or no belt loops at all. The removable belt loop 102 has been removeably attached to the clothing article 101 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, permitting the wearer's belt 103 to be inserted through the loop. The removable belt loop shown is secured to the clothing article 101 at two locations. An upper connector portion 104 of the removable belt loop is secured to the clothing article 101. Likewise a lower connector portion 105 is secured to the clothing article 101 at a location lower than the upper connector portion 104. Between the upper and lower connector portions of the removable belt loop is a portion 106 that spans the distance between the upper and lower connector portions 105 and 104. It is the spanning portion 106 that creates the loop through which a wearer's belt 103 will be inserted and maintained.

FIG. 2 is a top view of an embodiment of the removable belt loop 200 of the present invention. According to the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, a connector 201 is present within the upper connector portion 104 of the removable belt loop. In the preferred embodiment, said connector may include a metal pin 204, wherein the pin 204 is attached via a hinge 202, and the pointed end of the pin, when secured in a closed position, rests within a holder 203 to secure the pin 204 into place and to prevent the pointed end of the pin from being exposed. The pin 204 can be released from the holder using a mechanism like that of a safety pin or the like. When attached to a clothing article (not shown in FIG. 2) the pin portion 204 of the connector 201 would be inserted through the outside of the clothing article such that it pierces through the inside surface of the clothing and then inserted through the inside of the clothing article such that it pierces back through to the outside surface of the clothing article before being secured in the holder 203. Although this preferred embodiment is described such that the connector 201 includes a pin 204 secured by a holder 203, the connector 201 of the present invention can be comprised of any means to removably secure the removable belt loop to a clothing article in a manner consistent with the purpose of the present invention.

FIG. 3 depicts a view of the removable belt loop 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention as the removable belt loop would appear to an observer viewing the removable belt loop with the connectors mostly hidden by the upper and lower connector portions. Alternatively, the removable belt loop could be designed such that the upper and lower connector portions 104 and 105 obscure from the view of an observer viewing from the depicted perspective the connectors 201. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 3, the spanning portion 106 is made up of a cloth material which may resemble the material typically used to make prior art belt loops, e.g. a denim material typically used in a pair of jeans.

In an embodiment where a cloth material such as denim is used for the spanning portion 106, the connectors 201 can be permanently integrated into the removable belt loop by, for example, permanently attaching the connectors 201 via a sewn fold or pocket made in the cloth material as depicted in FIG. 4 (400). For instance, the connector 201 on an upper connector portion 104 of the removable belt loop can be permanently attached by forming a loop in the material that will secure the connector 201 in place by feeding the loop through an open portion of the connector 201 and then sewing the cloth material forming the loop on each side of the open connector portion, thus surrounding the connector to keep it in place. Although FIG. 4 depicts, and this description is directed to, one way to attach connectors to the removable belt loop according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the connectors can be attached to the connector portions of the removable belt loop of the present invention in any manner that will permanently affix the connectors to the removable belt loop at least at an upper and lower connector portion.

FIG. 5 depicts a bottom view of the removeable belt loop 500 that would not be visible by an onlooker observing the belt loop once it was attached to a clothing garment. As shown in FIG. 5 the connector 201 in this embodiment includes a pin 204 which will assist in the removable attachment to the user's garment. As shown, the pin spans the underside of the belt loop, but that is not a required feature so long as the mechanism for attachment sufficiently affixes the belt loop securely to the garment. In this embodiment, the connector 201 is secured to the belt loop having been sewn into a fold or pocket 501 at the upper portion of the belt loop. Other mechanisms can also be used to secure the connector to the rest of the belt loop device.

The spanning portion 106 of the removable belt loop, according to an embodiment of the present invention can be comprised of a material that is not cloth. For example, as depicted in FIGS. 6 and 7, a metal chain could be used to form all or a portion of the spanning portion 601. The upper and lower connector portions 602 and 603 could be integrated with the spanning portion 601 by, for example, having the chain attached to holes 604 in the connectors themselves. As shown in FIG. 7, this embodiment can still make use of a connector like that contemplated for use in the preferred embodiment, even though the spanning portion is comprised of a non-cloth material. For instance, FIG. 7 depicts the connector 700 featuring a holder portion and hinge, which would include a pin (not shown) much like that disclosed for use in the preferred embodiment. Again, the connector of the present invention is not intended to be limited to the specific connector described in the context of embodiments presented herein, but can include any connectors consistent with the purposes of the present invention.

Likewise, the spanning portion is not limited to the cloth, or cloth-like material, nor the described chain material. The spanning portion can be made of any material sufficient to connect the upper and lower connector portions to form a loop such that a belt can be inserted therein. For instance, leather or any other suitable material would suffice and be within the scope of the invention.

On the whole, the embodiments described herein are exemplary in nature. A person of ordinary skill in the art in the field of this invention having read this disclosure would readily understand that many deviations exist from the specific embodiments described herein that would not, however, depart from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is to be determined by the claims that follow and not limited to specific aspects of the disclosed embodiments. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A detachable belt loop comprising: an upper connector portion; a lower connector portion; and a spanning portion between said upper connector portion and said lower connector portion; wherein each of said upper connector portion and said lower connector portion includes one or more connectors adapted to releaseably attach to clothing.
 2. The detachable belt loop of claim 1 wherein said connectors include a metal pin.
 3. The detachable belt loop of claim 2 wherein said connectors include a holding portion for receiving and securing said metal pin.
 4. The detachable belt loop of claim 1 wherein said spanning portion comprises a chain made of multiple chain links.
 5. The detachable belt loop of claim 1 wherein said spanning portion is made of a cloth material.
 6. The detachable belt loop of claim 1 wherein said spanning portion is made of a leather material.
 7. The detachable belt loop of claim 5 wherein connectors are sewn into the removable belt loop at the upper and lower connector portions.
 8. The detachable belt loop of claim 6 wherein connectors are sewn into the removable belt loop at the upper and lower connector portions.
 9. A method of using a detachable belt loop comprising the steps of: releaseably attaching to a clothing garment a connector found in an upper connector portion of a detachable belt loop; releaseably attaching to the clothing garment a second removable connector found in a lower connector portion of the detachable belt loop; and inserting a belt through a loop created by a spanning portion found between an upper and lower portion of the detachable belt loop. 